Lost
by Chaotica
Summary: Ehehehe....dark fics are fun. Angstfest 2001!!!!!!!!!
1. Part 1

Discalimer: I don't own anything. If you say that I'm trying to claim Invader Zim as my own then you are on crack.  
  
Lost  
  
Dark figures huddled along the lower edges of the grounded war ship. It was in for repairs. Smaller than an Irken battle ship it was able to land planet side for work on its gravity generator.   
The six Human figures suddenly fled the scene. They rode two to a hover bike. Irken made of course. Not much on Earth didn't belong to the Irken race.  
Two of the bikes raced ahead of a third. Explosions blew a sizeable hole in the war ships main engine. The shock wave sent the third bike into a spin.  
A small and sleek fighter style Voot Runner blasted past the hindered bike.  
Just across the previously looked for line of safety one of the two bikes pulled around. The other stopped and both riders looked back.   
The passenger on the first bike hopped off and the driver raced off towards the stalled bike.  
"What the hell is he doing now?" The driver of the second bike asked the girl who had gotten off.   
She shook her head. "He said to keep going, he'd catch up. We gotta leave like now though."  
"That crazy bastard." The driver said as his passenger pulled the girl up. "I'm staying, he'll need cover fire."  
The passenger-less driver swept past the stalled bike as it exploded from laser fire. The Voot Runner swooped up in a loop to try and came back for the survivor of the explosion.  
The Irken In the vessel cackled as he lined up the shot for the running Human.  
Suddenly the second bike sped past and the driver scooped up his fellow Human.  
Fire from a rifle and a hand pistol peppered the Voot Runner. They managed to only anger the Irken until they hit the main air compressor. The Voot Runner sputtered in mid air then exploded.  
The bikes finally met up and sped off into the steadily darkening landscape.  
***  
The bikes pulled up behind a parked truck. The back of it came open and a ramp was pulled out to load them up.  
Drivers and passengers got off.  
Five of six survived. Better than average.  
The driver of one of the bikes pulled off his helmet and helped the boy he had saved with his riding armor.  
"Dib!" A rough voice yelled. "You're going to get yourself killed like that."  
Dib ran a hand through his hair. "I never leave a man behind Doc, you know that."  
The older man scowled. "That's no excuse. Your sister wouldn't have approved, whatever powers that be rest her fighting soul. Plus you told Mira that we were to leave. You know we don't' split up like that."  
"There was only one Voot Runner." Dib said clipping his helmet to his bikes handle bars before it was loaded up.  
"Yeah, I know." Doc got a thoughtful look on his face. "Weird huh? They usually send out as many as they have on hand."  
"They did. The Western Sect is giving them major trouble. They could only spare one Runner on a measly war ship." Dib looked up at Doc. He was as tall as his dad had been but Doc was taller. His hair remained as unruly as always and he wore the common among his fellows, dark armor that had been pieced together over the years. A 'smiley' face patch was on his shoulder.   
"I still don't approve." Doc said crossing his arms.  
Both were aware that the rest of the camp was watching them. Dib was, at the age of eighteen, one of the first leaders of the Human Resistance (HR) but Doc had been a commander in the armed forces. He was twenty-three now  
Dibs' face showed no reaction. "I never leave a man behind." He said again. He turned and walked away.  
"Let it go Dib!" Doc called after him. "She's forgiven you!"  
Dib didn't turn around and just went into his tent. It was a single person canvas tent. Only room for his cot and private armory.  
He looked at the creased picture of the only person he had ever really cared about. He couldn't even bring himself to think her name much less say it out loud. It had been an accident. She had been right behind him, then she had just been gone.  
Images played in his head. What he could have done differently.  
Never leave a man behind.  
Never again.  
That was his promise to her. So long as he was alive he would do everything to make sure everyone made it back to camp. Death was better than imprisonment.   
He didn't even know if she was still alive. Most people thought she was dead by now. They'd had a funeral for her. Everyone had a funeral when they didn't return.  
Five years since the Irkens had finally invaded. Two since she had been lost. It almost felt like forever.  
He lay back on his cot and held the picture over his heart. He willed his mind to shut down. To forget the pain. Sleep was his only salvation. And even then he would sometimes have nightmares.   
So sleep wasn't salvation. Nothing was, except maybe death. And even then he was sure his troubled soul wouldn't rest. Not till he knew she had forgiven him.   
Dibs' eyes closed slowly and he fell asleep.  
***  
"Wakey wakey! Eggs and bakey!"  
Dib bolted upright at the high pitched voice. His heart raced as he recognized Stupid. The little SIR unit jumped up and down and cheered.  
Stupid was owned by one of the Irkens that had joined the Humans. They were mostly shorter Irkens that were angry at the empire and even though invading was wrong. They were used as spies in the Empire itself. Stupids' owner unfortunately met his demise in an Irken torture chamber and the SIR had been adopted by everyone in the base camp.  
"Ugh, Stupid, don't do that."  
"Oops!" The battle scared SIR said. His logic chip had been damaged in a fight with a 'Slaughtering Rat Person' that had been set loose in the camp by an Irken squad. The Rat Person was dead now but Stupid was now, well, stupid.  
"Go help someone else okay?" Dib asked standing up.  
"Sir! Yes Sir!" Stupid said, his normally blue eyes flashed red before he bolted out of the room giggling.  
They not only used Stupid around camp to help fix things but the little SIR knew GIR. The two got along quite well and Stupid would get info from GIR and vise versa. Only thing was Stupid was given false information.  
Dib yawned and opened his tent flap blinking in the bright lights. He checked the personal weaponry that he always carried and ventured out.  
"Dib!"   
Dib turned to see Cal, the local bomb expert, running towards him.  
"Dib, you'll never guess it but we caught someone sneaking around the food truck last night. Male, maybe seven."  
Dib sighed.   
Irkens had discovered a way to make themselves look absolutely human and water proofed their skin. They used the child disguise most often since the majority of their race was short.  
"Show me."  
Cal lead him to a larger tent. It had a few lights in it. Doc and a woman by the name of Sheri were there. They both turned and greeted him then looked back at the child.  
It was a boy, around seven or eight. Brown hair, brown eyes. He looked normal enough.  
"Did you spray him?"  
Doc nodded. "Nothing."  
"Please." The boy said. "I was just hungry. Let me go, my mom's gotta be worried about me."  
Dib looked at Sheri. "Any settlements in the area?"  
She nodded. "Two. 'Old Hope' and 'Craters'ville'."   
Dib took a water bottle that he kept at his side and set it on the table. "So, what's your name boy?" He asked.  
"Deble." He said quietly.  
"Well Deble. My name is Dib." He kept watching the child as talked. "And I'm sure you know we have a bit of a problem here."  
"No sir I don't." Deble said.  
Dib shrugged. "Want a drink Deble?" He asked picking up the water bottle. He offered it to the boy.  
"I'm not thirsty sir."  
Dib pulled out a small pistol. "Drink the water Deble."  
No one else in the room objected. They couldn't afford to fall for the innocent child bit. Too many bad things had happened because they had.  
Deble picked up the water bottle. He lifted it to his mouth.  
"Oh yeah." Dib said. "It's distilled water. It might not taste right."  
Deble stopped. He regarded the bottle and swallowed hard.   
"Drink it." Doc said.  
Deble lifted the bottle. "To your downfall." He took a drink and swallowed. Immediately he convulsed and fell to the floor. He would have shrieked if he could have. The water had scorched his throat and was eating away at him from the inside.  
Irkens could water proof their skin, but not much else. The purer the water the more damage it did. Everyone in camp carried a bottle of distilled water. Everyone but the Irkens on their side drank some when asked. No matter what.  
Dib put the pistol to the writhing Irkens' head and pulled the trigger. He might have been an Irken but no one deserved a painful death.  
"Get a crew to bury him." Dib said holstering the laser weapon. "And check everyone on base." He picked up the bottle and took a drink to prove he was Human himself. No one was exempt from that vital law.  
"Will do." Doc said.  
Sheri and Cal left, Doc followed close behind. But Dib stayed and sat alone at the table.  
Outside Cal nudged Doc. "He okay? I mean I know he's been through a lot but he's been down a lot lately."  
Dob shook his head. "Some of us get demons that won't leave us alone. Dib's got one he can't let go." He pushed Cal up ahead. "Now go get that team together. Can't have the enemy sniffing the little bastard out."  



	2. Part 2

Lost  
  
Dib picked up his ration for dinner. They ate modestly well. Some factions were worse off with barely bread and water. Not that there was much that his faction could do about that. They were bogged down in the eastern side of what had once been America.  
He sat down beside Cal.   
The younger man grinned at him. He was younger than dib by three years, only twenty, but Dib trusted him enough.   
"So, what's our HR leader up to on this fine night?" Cal asked before taking a bite of his 'On the Road' stew. It was literally anything that had been found on the road.  
"Not much Cal. How Mic? He good?" Dib asked.  
"Mic's fine. He's eternally grateful that you pulled him out but he's in the Peace tent for Tally." He shook his head. "Poor guy, his funeral is tomorrow night you know."  
Dib nodded. "I tried to get them both."  
"We know that." A girl said. Her name was Eela. She had been with Dibs' HR faction from the beginning. They had almost been something once.   
Almost.  
"You do more for everyone than any three people on this base put together." She went on saying.   
Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if they had stayed together.   
His heart twinged at the memory of another girl.  
"Hey you okay?" Cal asked.   
Dib shook himself out of it. "Yeah, I'm fine." He waited till they had turned back to their meals before actually eating any of his own. He'd gotten past his disgust of what was in it a long time ago. Nowadays food was food.  
He started to listen to the new conversation. It was about a Human Irken couple that had come up in the base. It was a sticky situation the girl might even be pregnant. That in its self was a strange problem.  
"I don't know, it's very 'Romeo and Juliet'." Eela said as she finished her food.  
"It's unnatural." A man named Bik said. "And she might be carrying his kid." He glanced around the small circle. "I didn't even know they could have kids like that anymore."  
"They can actually." Dib said suddenly. He instantly drew everyones attention. "A few years ago they tried a breeding program for half-bloods." He trailed off and stared off into the distance. He squinted trying to see better. "What the hell is that?"  
The others turned too.  
"I don't know, looks almost like a, oh Mother of Earth." Cal said jumping up.  
"Voot Runners!"   
The scream of alarms filled the air.  
Food was dropped as rebels scrambled for weapons or to hide children away.   
Stupid was hauled up by Doc and his back hatch opened. A few wires crossed in the right spots and the SIR units eyes glowed a steady red. Lasers bristled out of his little form.  
Dib lifted his laser rifle and fell back to a truck with a few others.  
A full squad of G2-class Fighter style Voot Runners advanced from the West. They swept over the base camp then split up into three small groups heading back. One to the left, to the right and group pulled a loop high in the air to come straight back.  
Heavy fire came down on them. Anyone out in the open was shot down.   
Stupid was out in the middle of the fray firing wildly at the passing Voot Runners. He was giggling at the whole thing seemingly unaware of the potential doom.  
Dib took aim trying to get at least one of the Runners wounded. He had to at least try.   
A steady flow of laser fire pounded into the ground and raced towards the truck Dib and a few others had hidden behind.   
He grabbed a hold of someone and threw the both of them away from the truck. It was Eela.  
"Shit this is heavy!" She said before they got up. "Lucky if we die!"  
"We never get lucky!" He said back as he brought up his rifle. "Die." He whispered to no one.  
A random explosion rocked him. Cal ran up screaming at Dib, but he could hear the other man. All he heard was a ringing. He cupped a hand over his hear and tried to get Cal to understand.  
Cal finally nodded and pointed in a direction.   
Dib followed his hand and his heart fell into his stomach. The main weapons truck was on fire.   
"Looks like we got lucky." He said even though he couldn't hear himself.  
The truck blew up.  
***  
Dib opened his eyes slowly. He hurt all over.   
"Holy Mother of Earth." He muttered as he tried to sit up. He glanced around and realized he was nowhere near his tent back at the base. Not that he could have even been in his tent, it had burned in the fires.  
He touched bandages that were over his arms and soon found them on his legs and upper body.   
He found that he could at least hobble over to a wash station. He started the water and splashed some on his face. Once his eyes could stay open for more than a few seconds at a time he studied the room.  
It was mostly white with a bed, the wash station a chair and table. Unfortunately a blaringly red Irken symbol was on the door and one wall.  
He pulled at the gray clothes he had been put in finding yet another red Irken symbol on the front.   
Great, he was in his own personal hell. Goody.  
The door suddenly came open and two Irkens stood there. One held restraints.  
"Don't fight us Human." One of them said.  
They were both fairly short and didnt' look too strong. But Dib was injured and very sore so he didn't fight. He made many a sarcastic comment but didn't put up a visible struggle.  
He was lead down a hall to a vaulted room. A short figure paced and turned when he entered.  
"Ah, Dib." Zim hissed. He still wore his uniform but had a few black circles arranged a lot like medals on the front. "You're here."  
"Zim." Dib said standing as straight as his wounds would allow. "I see you're still a short little bug."  
Zim scowled. "You have no room to talk 'Dib'." The very fact that Zim used Dibs' name and didn't call him 'Stink Beast' told Dib the Irken held some respect for him. Even if he didn't want to show it.  
"So you have me. Big deal, I'll never tell you anything about the other factions." Dib said glaring at Zim as he came closer.  
"Oh I won't be the one to question you. The one who will do that is not here yet." Zim stood a good five feet away. He glared up at his rival. They just stared at each other for a long time.   
"I hate you." Dib finally said.  
Zim only nodded. "So you didn't change. Good."  
A door opened across the room. Zim turned to it.   
"Ah, she arrives." He said giving a Dib a knowing look.  
Dib saw her come. At first he couldn't tell a thing about her. She wore a black uniform with the Irken symbol on it. A slick black cap held her hair back.  
Then he realized who she was.  
She stopped by Zim and smiled at him that way he had remembered from so long ago. Before he had left her behind.  
Zim gave him an evil look. He seemed to be enjoying his rivals extreme discomfort.  
"Hello Dib." She said.  
Dibs' heart twisted as he fought to stay standing. "Hi Gaz." He choked.  



	3. Part 3

It's a bit short but hey, it's 1:54 in the morning. I'm aloud to write short.  
  
Chaotica~  
  
Lost  
  
Dib sat alone in a mostly empty room. There was only a cold metal table and a couple of equally cold metal chairs. One of which he sat in now.  
The shock of seeing his sister had numbed him. He started to remember things. How that before the war she had been silent, angry, on the defense and offence all the time. Then during the war she had actually smiled. Turned out that all those war games had come in handy.  
She had smiled. Laughed. Actually been his sister.  
Then he had lost her to this place. To Zim.  
He would rather of had her die.  
On the other side of the door Gaz waited for her master Zim to give her instructions. She was his after all.  
"You know what to do?" He asked looking up at her.  
She nodded.  
Zim started to walk away. "Come to my quarters when you're done here Gaz. And remember." He turned back and gave her a menacing look. "Break him."  
"Yes sir." She waited till he had rounded a corner to go in. She found her brother waiting for her. He had changed a lot.  
The last time she had seen him he'd had that cocky look in his eyes. That look that had told her just how eager he was to win. Now he had a desperate look there. One that showed how eager he was to die trying.  
"What do you have to say for yourself?" She asked.  
He looked up at her slowly. "About what?"   
"About what you did."  
He blinked. "I didn't do anything. Zim came here and."  
"Not about that!" She shrieked.   
He stopped and stared at her. "It was an accident."  
"An accident." She repeated. "That's one hell of an accident Dib."  
"I'm sorry."  
"You left me behind!"  
"No!" He closed his eyes. "No I didn't Gaz!"  
"Yes you did!" She hit the table with a gloved fist. "Look at me!"   
He didn't.  
"Look at me damn you!"  
His eyes opened slowly.   
"You left me there. You set that bomb and took off. I went after you and tried to keep up. 'Every man for himself'. Isn't that how it was then? Hmmm? Come on dear brother! Talk to your sister!" Gazs' voice dripped with contempt.  
"No! Never leave a man behind! Never! I'm sorry Gaz! I went back for you! I did!"  
"No, you came back to set more bombs, to raid more supply trucks. You never cared a lick for me." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You never cared about anything but this war."  
"That's not true!" He stood up suddenly knocking over his chair. "You're my sister! I cried for you!" His voice cracked. "I cried for everyone."  
She stood up straight and shook her head. "Cried for me? Is that all? I was in a prison camp for six months before Zim located me! Six months!" She glared at him angrily. "And you 'cried for me'? You make me sick!"  
"Gaz!"  
"Don't you 'Gaz' me!" She started to pace along he side of the table. "You remember that breeding program."  
Dib grit his teeth. "No..."  
"You remember how it actually worked?" She asked, her voice got angrier.  
He started to cover his ears and shook his head. "No, no, no, no."  
"That's right. That's what I was in that camp for! Breeding stock."  
He made a small anguished sound.  
"Come on Dib. Isn't it so nice? You left me for dead and I wound up being mother to a half-breed! Wound up being owned by the one and only Zim! And you cried for me! My god!" She looked up at the ceiling in a sarcastic flourish. "I feel so much better now!"  
"No!" He clung to the table for support. "You should have died instead of that."  
She leaned on the table not stopping till her face was inches from his. "You left me behind, left me to this hell, and for that I will 'never' forgive you."  
That's when he felt the last shred of anything that actually was 'Dib' snap in half. He slowly sank to the floor staring off into space.  
No forgiveness. The one thing he had hoped for in those two horribly long years.  
"I hope you're happy." She turned and left the room slamming the door behind her.   
He stared at the door for a long time, as if he was waiting for her to come back.   
"I think I'll sleep now." He mumbled before slumped over on the floor.   



	4. Part 4

Lost  
  
A pair of rather short Irken guards led Dib into another interrogation room. They had no problem with the one-time leader of the rebellion. They were almost nervous about it.  
They took Dib to the middle of the larger than average room and connected his chains to the floor. Dib immediately sat on the floor with a small depressed sound.  
The two guards backed from him and started to leave. One of the two kept looking back as if he was worried about the Human.  
Dib shifted and looked up at the sound of footsteps. They were soft even clicks on the hard floor. Gaz stopped in front of him and knelt down.  
"Dib." She said softly. "Talk to me, talk to me please." She touched his face. "You never speak anymore. It's been a week. You know I love you."  
She got no response.   
Zim had ordered her to break him, and she had. They didn't know how damaged his mind already had been. He was zombie now. He barely even ate much less talked.  
"I know you didn't mean to leave me." She moved some hair out of his face. "Zim doesn't know I'm here. He told me to say all those things. Please Dib."  
Something behind his eyes stirred.  
"Dib? Can you hear me?"  
He lifted his head slowly and let his eyes try to focus on her face. His arms reached up and his fingers brushed her face. Then he smiled.  
But it looked odd to her. Almost insane.  
"I'll make it better." He said, his voice a hoarse whisper. "I promise." Then his smile faded and the light in his eyes died away. His arms went back down slowly like his battery had just been taken out.  
She got up and motioned for the guards to come take him away. They complied reattaching the chains to their captive.  
She went one way down the hall and Dib was led the other. He glanced over his shoulder in her direction then looked forward. Suddenly he started to hum to himself.   
His guards exchanged nervous looks mere moments before he used the chains to bash the two together. He searched them and got the keys to free himself.  
He pulled both guards weapons from their holsters and glanced around to see if anyone saw.  
Footsteps sounded from around a corner.  
He darted off into a stairwell leaving the guards to be discovered.  
***  
"What do you mean you can't find him?" Zim demanded. He was standing in his chair glaring hard at the soldier before him.  
"We found his guards unconscious and their weapons gone. He was not in the vicinity." The soldier stammered.  
Zim became inarticulate for a moment. "Gaz!" He yelled.  
She appeared beside him like a shadow. "Yes?"   
"It seems your brother has escaped capture. I would like you to lead a search party to find him." Zim jumped off his chair and started to pace.  
"Of course sir." She said.   
The soldier eyed her a bit. The fact that she had been a part of the Irken/Human breeding program was widely known on the compound. Her son Gee was hardly ever seen.   
Some thought the half-breeds in the program were too sickly to be considered a part of the Irken race.   
"You will be allowed to tell your son that you will be away until Dib is found." Zim walked to her and seemed as though he was about to reach out for her hand but he stopped.  
The soldier was still there watching all of this. There were rumors that the relation of Gaz to Zims' arch-rival wasn't the only reason he had taken her out of the program.  
Zim spun around. "You are dismissed soldier."  
The soldier got up and left the room.  
He couldn't wait to get back to the barracks and tell the others about this.  
A taller and stronger dark form grabbed him. The feeling of a laser weapon to his head stopped him cold.  
"Is he in there?" A coarse voice asked.  
"W-who?" The Irken soldier asked.   
Dib shook him hard. "Is Zim in there?"  
"Yes!" He was shaken again.  
"Quiet." Dib hissed.  
A sharp pain in his head and the soldier was out like a light.  
Dib went to the door and slipped in.  
Zim turned to the sound of a laser being turned to its highest setting. "So, you came here."  
Dib didn't say anything. His eyes flicked to Gaz then went back to Zim. He lifted the first laser and fired.  
Zim was spun around by the impact and landed awkwardly on the floor.  
"Dib what are you doing?" Gaz asked.   
Dib stalked to Zim and aimed his weapon at his head. "Don't worry Gaz."  
"No stop!" She grabbed her brothers' arm. "Don't Dib."  
He turned to her silently. "It's his isn't it?"  
A guilty look crossed her face. "The first one couldn't, do it. Then Zim discovered me there. He arranged for himself to be paired with me." She looked away. "Once a pregnancy was confirmed he had me removed from the program."  
Zim mumbled something then sat up holding his left shoulder.   
"You!" Dib grabbed him by his uniform and pulled him up eliciting a painful scream from him. "You did that? You did that to her?"  
"Aug! Put me down!" Zim glared but his eyes started to glaze over from pain.   
Dib dropped him carelessly. "Why?" He nearly screamed.  
The door burst open and five Irken soldiers came in. One fired automatically hitting Dib right off.  
"No! Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Gaz cried.   
The one who had fired was hit over the head by one of his fellows.  
"Call for a medic! For Human and Irken." She noticed that the soldiers were gawking at the scene before them. "Now!" They scrambled away.  
She knelt down between Dib and Zim. She knew Zim wouldn't be responsive. Irkens tended to go in a coma-like state under extreme pain. Dib shaking him couldn't have helped matters either.  
"Dib, say something." She touched his face and leaned in to listen for breathing. It was shallow, but he was alive. "Come on. Speak to me."  
His eyes opened and he lifted his head slightly. "I'll be right back." His head thumped on the ground with a hollow sound.  
"Dib? Come on, wake up. Dib?"  
Nothing.  
"Dib!"  



	5. Part 5

A/N: This is indeed the last chapter.   
  
Lost  
  
Gaz tightened her hold on Gee as she entered the small observation room. She could see her brother through the clear window.   
She was so glad that he was alive. She had actually broken into tears when she thought he had died on her. Something she hadn't done since her pregnancy with Gee.  
The little half blood sat passively in her arms. He grew twice as fast as a Human but a good four times slower than an Irken. At only one-year-old he was the size of a Human five-year-old. He had pale green skin and wide, red eyes with a strange dark red 'iris' formation in the center. His stubby antenna twitched at sounds as he silently surveyed the room.  
She glanced at a doctor who seemed surprised that she was there.  
"How is he?" She asked showing her ID card.  
"He's fine." A familiar and slightly nasal voice said.   
She turned to see Zim standing in the corner of the room where she hadn't seen him.  
Gee made a bizarre twittering sound at Zim. It was the sound an infant would have made if any Irken had been 'born' at that stage. They were usually initialized at the early 'toddler' stage.  
The doctor caught a scathing glare from Zim and immediately exited closing the door behind him.  
"He lost no blood, the laser blast cauterized the wound." Zim said not moving from his corner. "He still might not live, but we'll try." He paused. "If you want us to."  
"You want me to decide whether or not we should try to save my brothers' life?" Gaz asked letting Gee down to the floor.  
Gee held onto one of her legs and watched his 'Hema' and 'Gemo' converse. He was raised in the manner of an Irken. The old traditions were researched after a good seven generations of abandonment strictly for this breeding program.   
He noticed there was a window that led to another room. He had seen many like this one and wanted to look back through it again at the being with the wires on him.  
While his Hema and Gemo talked someone that he thought must be important he climbed into a chair and began to look through the window again.  
The being on the other side was a Human like his Hema. Only he looked hurt really badly. He had tubes and wires all over him.   
One of the half-bloods antennas twitched at some sound unheard by the adults.  
He turned to see if they were watching.  
They weren't. His Hema was holding stock still as his Gemo held her hand and said quiet things to her. That happened a lot.  
Gee saw two doors in the room. The one he and his Hema had come in and one that obviously led into the other room with the hurt Human. Intense curiosity was a virtue held by all Humans and a few Irkens. But Gee was half of both, and so curiosity was half of him.  
He took off the glove of his right hand and reached up as far as he could to the print panel. It turned green since the security codes had yet to be sent in and the door opened quietly.   
Gee went through and eyed his Hema and Gemo to see if they had noticed. They hadn't so he could go on.  
He pulled a chair from against the wall to the side of the bed. He climbed up in it with little problem and then stood in it. He leaned onto the bed and stared at the sleeping Human.  
His glove was still off. He was supposed to wear them at all times though he didn't understand why. He thought his hands were nice with needlepoint claws like his Irken Gemo.   
Maybe it was the fact that they were Irken claws on Human hands that made the taller ones make them wear gloves. But that didn't matter right now.  
Gee reached out and touched Dibs' forehead out of pure curiosity. He was cold, and slick with sweat as his body struggled to stay alive even with the machines for help. This made Gee sad. Just as sad as the time the little one Iee caught that terrible virus and died.   
Iee had been born wrong in the first place. He had come out back wards and hadn't gotten the right air mixture when he needed it. He head been prone to all sorts of sicknesses and had died right in front of his fellows.  
The taller ones hadn't even noticed the pale shade of yellow the smaller males face had turned as he had gone into a cardiac arrest. It was said that they had merely been waiting for him to die anyway.  
Gee took Dibs' hand gently. His Hema had done that for him the time he himself had been sick. It had made him feel better, safer.  
Dibs' eyes opened slightly. Just enough to see out of, but his sight was a little blurry, and why was it so cold?  
Gees' antennas twitched again and he cocked his head. Then he looked down.  
"It's okay Uncle." He said in a high but scratched voice.  
Dibs' eyesight cleared and he was staring up at a face that should be Irken. But it had marks on its eyes that would have looked nearly Human if they hadn't been so red. When it spoke its, no his, voice was plainly Irken but came out from behind tiny Human teeth.  
"Wha?" He tried to get a full question out but that was all he could manage.   
"You can sleep now." Gee said squeezing Dibs' hand gently.   
Dib still didn't understand. But he was tired. So tired.  
"She waits for you." Gee said.   
Dib seemed to nod. Whether he understood or not didn't matter. He shuddered, and then he went to sleep like he was told he could.  
Gee didn't have time to respond as the machines wailed their many sirens.  
Gaz burst into the room. "Gee! Oh my god." She ran to him and scooped him up then backed away from her brother. "Get a doctor!" She shrieked! "Someone help him!"  
Irken doctors fled into the room. They gathered around Dib and the sirens were turned off.  
They talked among themselves and one called time of death.  
Gaz walked numbly back into the observation room still holding Gee. She sat down quietly into the chair Gee had used to peer into the other room.  
Zim stood to one side of her unsure as to what he should do. He had been planning on keeping Dib alive. It had been possible to do that. But he had been in bad condition. The laser blast had incinerated his liver and fried several surrounding organs.  
Gee twitched his antenna wildly. It was something that the half bloods did from time to time.   
The program leaders still couldn't figure out why. First they thought it was due to high stress. But then they had found the small beings doing it while they were quite relaxed or under no noticeable stress.  
It was labeled a quirk in their basic genetics and probably a useless gesture.  
But it wasn't useless.  
'He is gone.' Gee thought as hard as he could.  
'We are sorry.' Came the reply of all the survivors of the program. It was a multitude of voices that echoed in his mind softly.  
'Appreciated greatly.' He responded.   
'We continue?' A voice asked quietly.   
'Yes.' Gee 'said'. 'It is our duty now. The taller ones must not continue in this way.'  
'Agreed.' Again a single word or phrase was echoed in many voices.  
Gee stopped twitching his antenna and looked up at his Hema. She was crying so hard and in his concentration he hadn't been able to notice.  
He curled up to her and made the twittering sound again. He let his little hands fall on hers.  
"Gee." She said through tears. "Your glove is off." She took the small pseudo-leather glove and put it back on him.  
He wished desperately that he could tell his Hema that his Uncle was safe now. That he was resting and that it was better for him there.   
Instead he twittered again and murmured 'Hema' to her.  
She rocked him silently. As far as she knew he was only old enough to say 'Hema' and 'Gemo', maybe a few other words.  
It was better that way.  



End file.
